Simply Seasoned Red Lentils – A Taste of Home

This dal is one of my comfort foods. Every time I make it, the sound of the sizzling spice & the aroma reminds me of home, of my childhood…. Masoor dal used to be a staple food for me – for I rarely would want to try any other dal. Why? Because I love the flavor these special spices cooked in Mustard Oil- yes that is what is used to season this dal. If you are not aware, traditionally most of the recipes in Bengal use mustard oil for cooking. It cannot be denied that the flavor that mustard oil adds can not be replaced with any other substitute. To season this recipe, you would need a very little of the oil- & I would warn that this would not taste the same without this particular combination of Mustard Oil & the Panch Foron (very commonly used spice mix in Bengal to temper lentils & vegetables….I have explained that later in the post).

In Bengal, most of the times vegetarian means there would be absolutely no use of onion or garlic. There are lots of recipes which are cooked all vegetarian, this being one of them. Another ingredient that perfects the taste of this dal is a teensy bit of sugar. Well everyone knows that the Bongs have a sweet tooth, however the addition of sugar here is not to make it sweet, but for the balance of taste. Once cooked you will not taste the sugar, I promise.

This is a fairly easy thing to prepare. It is as healthy as all lentils are… so if you like it like I do, you can indulge guilt free. Traditionally this dal is accompanied with hot White Rice, Crispy Shoe String Potato Fries & Fried Eggplans/Brinjal (Begun Bhaja) & a salad made out of Cucumber, Tomato & Onions thinly sliced & sprinkled with some salt & lemon juice… among other things.

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Split Red Lentils or Masoor Dal

1 Medium sized Tomato chopped or blended

1 Teaspoon Turmeric

Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Sugar

2 Hot Green Chilies (like Serrano or Thai Bird) – Slit

2 Dry Red Chili Pepper

2 Teaspoon Panch Foron*** (See Note)

2 Teaspoon Mustard Oil (can use any Cooking Oil or Ghee or Butter)

1/2 Fresh Lemon

Fresh Chopped Cilantro/Coriander Leaves for Garnish

*** Note: This is a combination of 5 spices in equal quantities. For the Authentic Taste, do not skip any of the spices, for each of them lend their own flavor & taste. The seeds of the spices should be all kept whole, not ground into a powder. Here are the spices for Panch Phoron/Foron:

Boil in water the first 7 ingredients (Lentils, tomato, turmeric, salt, sugar, green chili) till Soft & Mushy. You can either pressure cook it, which is obviously the fastest way or can cover & cook till done. It will not have completely dried out. The quantity will more than double in the consistency of puree. If required add more hot water while cooking.

53 comments to Simply Seasoned Red Lentils – A Taste of Home

This really sounds great. This is very tempting to make, but I am not familiar with kalonji and got disappointed. I am not sure how easy to find mustard oil either. Just out of curiousity, why does in Bengal vegetarian sometimes mean without onion or garlic?

Small bottles of mustard oil are available in Indian Grocers. But if you want to try, go ahead with regular oil.

From what I have heard.. here’s the reason for considering Onion & Garlic as non veg. They generate body heat when consumed. The main reason that non vegetarian is not consumed by many is not for killing but also the way it reacts to the body. The “brahmins” or the priest class is supposed to be total vegetarians, & they are supposed to keep the calm & stay away from “desires”… & the stuffs that generates body heat is not consumed. In Bengal the widows turn to (or used to) vegetarians, mostly becoz they were supposed to stay away from men & desires & arousals… hence away from any food that might cause it.

I agree with you on mustard oil. I use mustard oil when I make masoor, mili juli or tuvar dal, and it lends an awesome flavor!! Yours looks great – tadka is mouthwatering, and I have a similar picture in my archives!!

Atleast someone else likes mustard oil who is not a Bong!!! I will go look ur picture:-)

That looks so comforting. Bookmarked. I will try it soon. about paanch phoran, I had read somewhere about a spice called, Randhuni. Do you know what it is? I have never seen it anywhere in the Indian stores.

Yes Radhuni is used in Bengali Cooking. I have not seen it in Indian stores either. I do not know if it is the same, but definitley closest to it is the celery seeds that u find here. I think its called the “wild celery”. also heard the name “Ajmud” (Hindi??) related to it.

Simple yet delicious. Looks fantastic too. I heard of masoor dal only after coming here to the US and it has become a favorite of the kiddies. I have a packet of panch poran sent by dear Sandeepa, good recipe to use it on.

I know Masoor dal is prevalent in the East & North! How sweet of Sandeepa:-) Actually if u have all the spices at hand, all u have to do is mix them in equal amounts to make the panch phoron.

Looks so beautiful. Isn’t it true, that simple things in life are the ones that are comforting. I have heard so much about mustard oil, but have not used it. I had it at a friends place when she added it for Dosas and loved the unique taste.
Maybe I will get some from the grocery soon.

I’d not known that Bengal vegetarianism excluded onions and garlic, but did know that Jainism prohibits any root produce that would disturb or hurt a creature in the ground by pulling it out during harvest.

This is a beautiful recipe, Soma. Mustard oil and panch phoran are lovely flavors.
Thanks for sharing for MLLA8!

yes Susan, the jains do not eat any root veggies. But I think in Bengal its a totally different reason.

Just found this via Tastespotting. This is almost exactly the recipe my Nani wrote down for me many years ago. I usually just do the bagaar/tarka in canola oil, but I think will get some mustard oil and try that. Also, she used to do a 3/4 to 1/4 masoor/moong combination and blend with an immersion blender if you want it to be more soupy. Delicious, and fool proof!

I am lucky that I can buy all these ingredients in local shops. I was a little concerned when I saw that the mustard oil I bought was labelled ‘for external use only’ but my concern only lasted a moment as I decided that it was unlikely to kill me.

I made this to be quite thick rather than soupy and woolfed down the whole lot with wholemeal pitta breads (I kid myself that these are like chappatis when I can’t be bothered to make my own).

Needless to say I loved every mouthful and this dish is going to become a regular feature in this household.

Thanks!

Thank you so much for letting me know and very glad that you liked it!!

I made this dal for the umpteenth time last night (it is unofficially the favorite dal of our household) to celebrate the fact that I have just bought my first packet of radhuni. It definitely adds another dimension to the flavor. I always thought that the substitution of mustard seeds doesn’t add anything other than keeping the spice count at five. There is already a string mustard element from the oil.

One thing I found was that the dal needed a little simmering after the addition of the tempering because the radhumi seeds were somewhat harder than the other whole spices and delivered a rather intense crunch if eaten immediately. Nevertheless, as long as I can get my hands on it, radhuni will be 20% of my panch phoran.

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